The Caged Bird
by DarkGirlRavenGrayson
Summary: Raven. The thing that made Slade tick and eventually drove him to the brink of desperation. The Titans are captured on a remote place being hunted off, but Raven is offered a chance from Slade… will she take it? /updated 12.31.10/
1. CH 1: Secrets

**A/N:** I know I'm in the process of writing "If I Never Knew You". I'm also aware that "Of a Robin & a Raven" is still not being updated as well. But when you suddenly have ideas and a plot comes to you that you think needs to be posted then why stop the flow of ideas? Obviously I'm meant to write this one before the others so I suppose I'll try to work on this as well as "If I Never Knew You". I'm still kind of toying with this story, so please take that into consideration when it doesn't seem all that good.

Disclaimer: I merely own the plot.

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**The Caged Bird**

**Chapter 1: Secrets**

"Robin…" Raven groaned in his ear, leaning weakly against him as his lips trailed across her neck and he bit her gently once more.

"Hmm… what is it, love?" he murmured against her skin, trailing his hands up under her cami along her back, making her shudder against him. He grinned for a short second, knowing how his touch affected her in such ways.

"You're driving me crazy..." she breathed out, barely able to keep her voice even as his lips trailed her collarbone.

"Then I say we get a little naughty tonight." he continued, nipping at her neck once more as his hands moved down to rest at her sides and play with her pajama shorts. She purred lightly in his ear.

"We can't do this tonight, we need to stop." She whispered out, pushing against his chest even though both of them knew it was a futile action given Robin's superior strength. He smiled, bemused by her failed attempt, and grasped her thin wrists in his hands, kissing her palms softly before pulling himself off from on top of her and having them both be in a sitting position, her in his red boxer covered lap. She sighed and looked up at him. "Richard Grayson you are one brave boy."

He grinned smugly down at her and quickly stole a kiss before continuing to speak against her lips. "Ah, but I have to be a _brave boy_ if I want to be the boyfriend of the infamous Raven Roth, now don't I?" She rolled her eyes.

"No, you just have to be you…" she let a smile slip from her lips and she pressed them against his gently while caresses his cheek with one of her hands.

Robin sighed and whispered. "When will we be able to tell the team about… _us_?"

Raven bit her bottom lip and drew herself back from him a bit so she could look up into his cerulean blue eyes. "Hun, I'm really not sure. Although… I did tell Cyborg…"

His eyes widened at this. "Really, how long has he known?"

"For about three weeks now. I just had to tell someone, and you know how he's like my older brother and wouldn't tell a soul without our consent. He's actually quite happy." A small smile appeared on her face again. "He hasn't seen me happy like this in a while he said and should have guessed you were the reason behind it all since this new mood started seven months ago."

Robin gave a small chuckle and pressed his lips against her forehead. "I love you, Raven."

"I love you too, Richard. And I wish I could continue our little fun, but I need sleep, as well as you. The mask may be able to hide the bags under your eyes but you can't hide that from me." She stated, tracing the dark circles that had appeared under his eyes now from lack of sleep lately. "I think you need to relax on your attempts at tracking Slade so late…"

Robin hugged Raven against his firm chest and exhaled, stroking her hair gently as she closed her eyes in content. "You know I can't do that… he's after something. I don't know what yet but it seems big. Whenever we get close to him he just disappears and goes into hiding once more, totally untraceable. We have to find him before something happens. I have a bad feeling."

"But do you have to work day in and day out?" Raven wondered aloud softly in a meek voice, worried for Robin more then he seemed to be worried for himself. "I don't think the extremeties of your search should be so… lavished. You rarely come out of your room besides on missions or when I come to coax you out to actually make it look like you're still alive and apart of the team."

Robin grinned and whispered against her ear. "You know what else you could coax out right now…"

"**OKAY** time for me to go." Raven said with a faint blush, getting out of Robin's lap and fastening her cloak around her pajamas protectively. He continued to grin, mock innocence on his face as he glanced over in her direction as she made her way to the door, getting a glimpse of her creamy legs in her short pajama bottoms as the cloak kicked up behind her.

"Okay. Good night, Raven." He said, leaning back against his headboard and yawning, scratching his bare chest for a moment as he looked after her.

She looked back over her shoulder with a small smile of her own as she flicked her hood up, her amethyst eyes glistening slightly. "Good night, Richard." With that she phased through the door and was out of sight. Robin's grin spread across his face as he sighed out and collapsed fully down against the bed, looking up at his ceiling.

'_God, that smile…'_

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Once Raven transported to her room she leaned against her door and sighed, closing her eyes as that small smile that was becoming more and more common returned to her face. Robin's image filled her head and she couldn't help but feel a little flutter in her chest, regardless what her other emotions were telling her at the moment. Her heart was whole.

Without thinking of anything else, she discarded her cloak and climbed into bed, snuggling against her pillow and closing her eyes, allowing sleep to overcome her quickly with dreams filled with none other than Robin.

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A dark shadowed figure stood outside Raven's bedroom window, his suction cupped gloves holding him high up on the Tower window above the ground below. He smiled as he saw her turn in her sleep, the moonlight now radiating off of her hair in numerous strands.

"No wonder the boss is so obsessed with you…" he whispered. "Just look at you, a fallen angel."

With that he pushed the window slightly open and slipped in a round device, it rolling under her bed, a red light beginning to blink subtly. He grinned and hopped up, beginning to climb in another direction.

"One Titan down, four to go."

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**End Chapter**

Not that bad, but not all that good in my opinion. I know that it was short but not everything can be long and dragged out like some of you like. Don't ask what my thoughts were, I write what I'm feeling and that's all there is to it. Please review to say if I should continue or not.

**DarkGirlRavenGrayson**


	2. CH 2: Taken

**A/N:** This will be my last chapter update maybe for a while as I want to get other things done. I'm so sorry for the lack of chapters I've been putting up for all my stories… but high school is just a hassle for me and summer was insanely busy. So I'm sorry… but I won't have much more time for my writing. It's a depressing but true fact. So please, do read and review this second chapter to "The Caged Bird".

Disclaimer: I do not own the Titans, merely the plot.

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**Chapter 2: Taken**

Raven awoke to the sound of the alarm ringing throughout the Tower and the voices of her teammates echoing as well in a seemingly anxious tone. Raven sat up quickly and listened as she heard Beast Boy's voice before it died down to nothing and the boy went silent. She looked over at her cloak that hung casually along the chair and watched as the gem that held it together blinked a bright red before diminishing. What was going on?

"Raven!!" she heard Robin finally scream somewhere in the hallway. She sprang out of bed to open her door and opened it, looking around the hall to see if she could locate where he was calling her from. When she heard nothing her eyes widened in slight fear. Raven didn't like not knowing when things were happening.

A sudden blood curling scream from Starfire made her jumped and she backed away into her room, bumping into her mattress and sitting back down into the bed as her door automatically shut.

"What the hell is going on…" she whispered to herself. Her vision moved to the blinking gem on her cloak once more as it suddenly faded and stopped. She closed her eyes and shook her head clear, trying to sort things in her brain as she heard her emotions beginning to lose control.

"God damn everybody get out of your rooms if you're still in there, Star and Beast Boy are already – " Raven heard her boy friend start again before being cut off. She stood up and was about to teleport to him when her eyes caught something red suddenly begin to flash off of the ground. She looked up at her cloak to see if it had begun to shine again but noticed nothing. She glanced back down as the steady red light continued to diminish and return.

She stooped down beside the bed and looked underneath with a puzzled expression, seeing a small sphere that was the source of the light.

"00:03…" she read. It couldn't be a bomb, but what was it? Before she could find another conclusion to her assumption it beeped and smoke suddenly emitted from it, coming up from all sides of her bed and clouding her vision. She began to cough out and stumbled away from her bed, feeling light headed.

She fluidly levitated, with her limited vision, towards what she figured was the door, and slapped her hand against the button to open it, gasping as fresh air hit her face and she collapsed on the ground. She shook slightly in pain and she felt her consciousness slipping. What was going on…?

"Raven!" Robin's voice cried out, more near now. She weakly opened her eyes to see him, sideways since she was lying down, in the hall running towards her. Suddenly he stopped and his masked eyes widened, looking behind Raven as a gasped escaped his lips. "What are you doing here? I knew you were behind this! If you so much as touch her I swear to God…"

Raven felt a hand at her neck and cringed as a pressure point was pressed and she closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip. The smoke suddenly poured out of her room and filled her vision again once she opened her eyes, and as soon as she opened her mouth to call out to Robin she lost her breath. Cold, strong arms suddenly picked her up from behind and she was pressed against the person's chest in an almost possessive manner.

And that was the last thing she felt before everything went black.

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End Chapter

So… short. I'm sorry about that. But… it's building up… I swear. Please review.

**DarkGirlRavenGrayson**


	3. CH 3: Awakening

**A/N**: It's quite difficult to figure out what story to update and when, and I figured that my priority was with "If I Never Knew You". But I'm coming up with a huge writers block for that story, so I'm attempting to keep this one going along track even though I'm still thinking of new ideas for it. Hope you enjoy this third chapter, because the story is starting to take off now.

**Disclaimer**: Only the plot is mine.

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**Chapter 3: Awakening**

She had no idea where she was.

Her first inclination was obviously that her teammates and she had been abducted. By who or what, she did not know. But as soon as strong, cold arms had hoisted her up off the ground in the Tower before she had passed out was a good enough reason to believe so. Her head ached, as did the rest of her body. She refused to open her eyes still though, her body's way of telling her that it was still healing from whatever had tampered with her. That gas…

She tried to move and groaned in pain lightly. She felt bound against a hard surface, cold metal pressing against her wrists and ankles.

"Raven…?" she heard someone's voice in a whisper. She knew that voice. She'd manage to open her eyes for him.

"Robin?" she mumbled back, disoriented. She forced her eyes opened and waited till they adjusted to the dark surroundings. In front of her was a cement wall no more than 10 feet away. It was a dark, depressing room… jail cell like almost with absolutely nothing in it. She turned her head slightly to the side to see Robin beside her, chained to the wall with shackles at his wrists and ankles. His belt and weaponry was gone.

She took a fearful glance up at her own hands to see she was indeed in the same position, a white power glowing from her chains to keep her from using her power. How dare someone…

"Thank God you're awake," Robin continued once she had looked back at him. "As soon as he had picked you up I thought I'd never see you again… but it seems we're all in the same boat."

Raven took a look to her other side to indeed see the rest of her teammates clamped to the wall, Starfire unconscious still beside her and Beast Boy and Cyborg a slight ways off as well. Raven felt her stomach drop in slight worry.

"Who is _he_?" she whispered back, looking into Robin's masked eyes with concern.

Robin's mouth opened to speak but a sound from the metal door ahead of them made him stop. The two teens heard a jingling of keys and it creaked open, revealing the villain Robin had seen only hours earlier.

"Slade." He hissed out when he walked into the chamber. He smirked.

"Indeed, Robin. What a pickle you seem to have gotten you and your teammates in…" the man in armor sneered. Raven was in slight surprise to see that the metal mask had been removed and been replaced by merely a black eye-patch, allowing her to see his ebony hair, goatee and one blue eye. It reminded her almost of Robin –

Slade's voice picking up again stopped her train of thought. "And hello dark bird… been a while, hasn't it?"

She managed to shoot a glare at him despite her tired state. "What do you want with us, Slade? Where are we?"

He slowly walked closer to the five superheroes, Raven noticing that the rest of them had revived and been slightly during Slade's small introduction. They seemed as surprised as she had been to see him stand before them.

"What do I want? That is to be determined. Where are you? A place absolutely untraceable from the outside world."

Robin tried to pull forward off of the wall as he suddenly jumped in. "Untraceable, I highly doubt that. Nothing you could ever train could cloak apart of Jump City. As soon as we break free –"

"Tut tut… such impatience. Whoever said we were still in Jump?" Slade countered.

At this the Titans went silent and stopped trying to break free. Slade grinned once more.

"Then… where have you taken us?" Starfire piped up meekly, being the first to regain her voice. Slade turned to her and roughly gripped her chin in his hands, making her quiver.

"You're on an island, sweet cheeks… one uninhabited by any humans originally. This place is unlike any other as you will soon find out. I wouldn't want to ruin it for you all, so I won't say anymore…"

He let go of her than and stepped back, the red head biting her bottom lip as to make sure that no tears fell from her fearful green eyes. She wouldn't show weakness at such a time. Robin glared daggers at Slade.

"Release us _now_." He practically commanded. Raven noticed Slade roll his eye in irritation.

"Due time, Robin. In due time…"

With that the man clad in black, silver and orange stepped out of the room once more, and the Titans all shared slightly confused and worried glances amongst themselves. He would release them soon, on an uninhabited island? What for? What was his objective?

Finally Raven turned to see Robin looking at her, and even though he had his mask to conceal his beautiful eyes, she knew that they held fear. Fear for what would happen to the team. But more importantly, what would happen to her.

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**End Chapter**

I know all of you don't like my short chapters, but my writing style is changing slightly and it's just so much easier to move the story along like this. Tell me your thoughts in a review please?

**DarkGirlRavenGrayson**


	4. CH 4: Release

**A/N:** I NEED INPUT. **HIGHSCHOOL** … high school seemed to be kicking my butt sophomore year. Not so much anymore obviously since I've updated and its summer, but I just don't have the time to write it seems and its breaking my heart. I want to know what you guys think.

Continue writing…?

Or simply give up.

Tell me what you think in your review.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the Titans or Slade.

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**Chapter 4: Release**

An eternity seemed to roll by before many numbers of Slade's henchmen came back into the cell block. As soon as Raven was unclamped from the wall she collapsed to the ground, weak just as her companions were. Robin rushed to her side and aided her to sit up, eventually just picking her up in his arms bridal style as the rest of the team stood before the programmed robots. They wanted to attack, but knew that until they had further knowledge of where they were and what Slade's plan was, they were at his mercy.

One of the robots suddenly held out a screen and Slade's image appeared, beginning to speak.

"Hello, Titans. Good to see you all safe and sound… I hope you don't mind coming to visit me face to face to have a small conference of sorts?"

Robin glared and his hold on Raven visibly became even more constricted. A muscle in Slade's jaw tightened at the simple action as he waited for the reply.

"We want answers… we'll be there," Was Robin's straightforward reply.

A plain nod. "See you soon." The Titans watched as the screen fizzed to black.

The teens looked up to see the drones already beginning to walk down a long and dark corridor that revealed nothing. Robin set Raven down when he knew she was fine, and as the five walked, they saw nothing but a narrow long strip and numerous doors.

"Dude… what's with all the doors?" Beast Boy questioned, looking around side to side hurriedly. Robin looked back at him wordlessly, and the changeling knew to keep quiet in such a high tense situation.

The rest of the while they walked was silent. Four of Slade's drones lead the way, while the rest were behind the teens and beside them. None of them spoke; none of them dared do anything out of line. And as time lagged on, the Titans grew wearier and wearier.

Finally, they stopped, and Robin peered over to see them standing at the end of a hallway in front of a metal door. One of the robots opened it with a pass code and the others filed in, the teens following as the drones behind pushed on and they were met with nothing but darkness for a short amount of time.

Starfire immediately threw her hand up with a glowing starbolt to try and illuminate the new surrounding, and the rest of the Titans gathered around, watching with keen eyes.

"Where are you, Slade…?" Robin practically seethed out, sensing that they weren't alone with merely his drones. Beast Boy's stance crouched defensively beside his leader as he took a glance up at Cyborg, who looked back with just as much confusion and slight aggravation at the situation.

Suddenly lights flew on overhead and Raven shielded her eyes with her cloak at the brightness, the other four complaining to themselves as they adjusted as well. When they peered up hesitantly Slade was standing in the doorframe across the room, hands behind his back as always.

"Welcome, Titans… I hope you're feeling as good as I am at the moment." He smirked.

"You weren't the one chained against a wall, now were you?" Raven muttered out with a glare beneath her hood. Slade looked at her for a moment before slowly stalking towards the five teens. Instinctively they all took somewhat of a stance, Robin half shielding Raven with his own body protectively. Slade noticed the small gesture against the rest and stopped himself, composing his features.

"On the contrary," he paused, eyeing the two birds. "I have my own pains…"

"Save it." Cyborg spoke up. "We want answers, **_now_**."

Wordlessly, Slade walked back towards a control panel and hit a single blue button. Without warning, what seemed to be a metal curtain covering a window began to rise and the Titans eyes widened in sheer surprise. Slade had been right; they truly weren't in Jump City anymore. The landscape in front of them through the glass the nothing but a forest; with rivers, mountains and other dangerous endeavors hidden inside of it. Of course, the Titans were unknowing of all of this, all of them simply trying to take in the scene through the glass panel and watched as a sliver of the morning sun was just beginning to rise.

"Don't try to escape… ever." Slade simply stated calmly, watching the teens expressions. "It will do you no good in surviving." Just than the minions appeared around the Titans and grabbed them as they began to squirm, others were clamping handcuffs to their wrists to keep them from being able to break free. "These are designed each especially to your power or ability; a plus for me, and disadvantage for you. I have to take precautions in such a situation for the moment while I explain…" the man began as he walked towards them.

"You're here because I brought you to this island by my own want and reasons. And truly, it's quite simple to wrap your mind around. Out there, is dangerous. And you all are now at my mercy. My island… my rules."

"This is ridiculous," Raven hissed beneath her breath. Slade looked at her as he continued to walk around the five of them trying to break free; a slight smirk playing on his features.

"You will be hunted… and your only task is to try and stay alive."

Everyone stopped moving at this to stare at Slade. Once he saw this attention he continued.

"You have exactly two weeks here… two weeks to try and stay alive while in this expansion before you. Failing is inevitable I must say, I wouldn't underestimate anything you may come across…" he stopped again, this time his eye meeting Robin's masked ones, and a wave of tension crossed between them. "It's something of a game, you see… I give you a 3 hour start beginning tomorrow night, when this all takes place."

"Why the time of night, simply?" Star meekly piped up, beginning to become puzzled.

"You will be housed during the day somewhere otherwise… at night, it's all the more worthwhile and exciting." Was Slade's simple reply. "My robots are to follow along with others, and if you all elude them for 2 entire weeks, you win. If you're found and caught…" Slade smirked again. "You lose, and with your life."

"This is highly irrational and unrealistic." Robin muttered to Slade.

Slade ignored the Boy Wonder's comment. "Really, this is more than just a game, Titans. This is a race to save your life… and of the ones you love."

Robin's stomach fluttered at the tone in Slade's voice and once he set eyes on Raven after he had said the last part of his sentence. Quickly he began to thrash in the cuffs and made a run towards Slade, but was merely kicked down by the villain.

All of a sudden, the drones were at the Titans sides again and each in turn tazered the young adults. They dropped to the floor beside one another, a slight groan emitting from each one's lips as unconsciousness took over, and blackness encased them each once again.

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**End Chapter**

Good…? O.O I'm certainly hoping it was considering the almost 7 month wait… D:

Please leave me a review for this chapter… oh it would mean the world to me! I hope to continue again soon since I'm picking up my ideas for this story once again. If you have any comments or questions about this story or even any of my others I have been neglecting, feel free to do so in your review.

**DarkGirlRavenGrayson**


	5. CH 5: Revive

**A/N**: My last update before school starts again. :] Please enjoy, I don't have much to say here other than… I really hope I can get all my readers and reviewers back.

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the Titans or Slade.

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**Chapter 5: Revive**

Slowly Raven forced her eyes open despite the pain she felt throughout her body. She deeply sighed when she tried to move and winced when she couldn't move but was held back. She looked at her wrists and sure enough she was clamped down once again; just as her other teammates were; to the ground with giant metal chains. The small enclosure they were in was more than depressing – even for her. The tower/room was made of all stones and mortar, a dull looking gray. A stale, dead aroma seemed to fall around them in an invisible cloud, making Raven wish she could escape and breath fresh air she knew was awaiting outside. Nothing could be worse than these conditions.

Raven glanced over to see Starfire was beside her on one side and alert and awake unlike the boys, her alien strength and stamina probably a factor in her obvious awakened state. She heard Raven shifting beside her and smiled sadly when she looked at her friend.

"Dear friend Raven, do not try and pry free. It is resistant to even my own abilities, and surely yours as well. Please rest, for you look… paler."

Raven managed a weak smile. "I'm always pale, Star… but thanks for your concern."

Starfire nodded once in response and softly sighed, leaning back against the wall and hugging her knees to her chest meekly. The simple action made Raven wish she could hug her friend and make her feel the least bit better.

Suddenly a ray of light streaked across Raven's face and she squinted her eyes, looking up to where the source of it was from. She saw the roof to this tower-like imprisonment about 50 feet up, opened, but with barbed wire and crackling electric bars over it. The sun was directly overheard, indicating it was already a bit past noon. Soon, in no more than 6 hours, all would go dark.

And the game would begin.

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Robin's eyes darted back and forth from the Slade Bots to Raven, and back again. He didn't like having to play by Slade's rules. He didn't like the feeling of not being in charge like he always was. They were trapped, and he could only feel responsible for all of this.

When the last of the team's shackles were undone and had been replaced with the cuffs again to keep them from retaliating, Slade walked through the door and entered the room. Robin watched as his serious face was replaced with a slight grin, his one eye sparkling with excitement. (**A/N**: Remember Slade doesn't wear his mask in this story, he's modern :D)

"In approximately ten minutes…" he began, scanning the five young adults, "You will be released outside. Me, nor my drones, will be after you for another 3 hours after that, so you have the head start. And quite a fair amount of one I believe."

The Titans shared uneasy glances but Robin nodded confidentially to them all, resuming his fearless leader face. He needed that much from him.

"Remember: my terrain, my rules, and my island. This isn't some stimulation. This isn't a test. This is about your lives. So choose how you play your cards carefully. Perhaps you may survive." Slade finished with a small smirk, looking dead at Raven now. She squint-glared back at him before glancing away in disgust, wishing for nothing more at the moment than to be able to cross the room space between them and rip him slowly apart, limb from limb.

"At exactly sunrise and no earlier, the doors to this chamber you are housed in will be opened, and only then will the game stop and resume only till the next night commences. At night the doors will be impenetrable, and most likely if you try to get past them you will face dire and left threatening shocks… so play by my rules. Or else."

With nothing else to be said, he hesitated with a final glance and walked out the large doors and into the darkness of the night, them shutting behind him and enclosing the Titans once more. The drones stood around the five teens, waiting for the signal that would trigger them to let the Titans free. Each exchanged a glance one more time with their teammates, whispering closely.

"Robin…" Raven murmured to him beside her, uncertainty thick in her voice. "What are we going to do…?"

He looked over to her. "What we always do. We're going to bring down anything that attacks us, and not give up. As long as we stick together and have each other, there's no way they can take us down." They shared a knowing smile and nodded to each other.

"And now…" Slade's voice suddenly came from one of the drone's speakers, reviving the Titans from their own conversations. They focused on the one in the center, where Slade's voice could be heard. It was backing up towards the doors as they automatically opened, it silently standing there for a moment as they stared on at it. The drones that surrounded them unshackled the five and stood back, not preparing to interfere. Raven held her breath for what was coming, feeling the power inside of her well up. She knew her mates felt it, too.

"Let the game begin."

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**End Chapter**

Kind of short I know, but hey the story is finally starting! Aren't we happy? (: Good I thought so.

Updates for this story in particular will not be as frequent and scheduled as "If I Never Knew You" because that one I have had planned out, this story just came to me on a whim one day way back and I decided to experiment with some Slade/Raven/Robin romance. Keep checking up on me though and leave a lovely review with critiquing involved. And check out my other stories.

**DarkGirlRavenGrayson**


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